clark



2 SheetsSheet 1.

(No Model.)

1-1 F. CLARK.

TORPEDO SIGNAL.

Patented Nov. 1'7, 1885.

lul

(No Model.) 2 SheetsShet 2.

H. P. CLARK:

TORPEDO SIGNAL.

No. 330,562. Patented Nov. 17, 1885.

I UN TED STATES.

PATENT omen HENRY F. CLARK, OF PoUeHKEnPsIn, NEW YORK.

QTORPEDO-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 330,562, dated November 1'7, 1885.

Application filed June 1, 1885. Serial No. 167,202. (No model.)

acted upon by the wheels of the locomotive in T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. CLA K, of Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Torpedo-Signals, of which the following is a specification.

Letters Patent N 0. 310,717, granted to T. G. Palmer January 13, 1885, contains a signal apparatus in which the exploder is raised by the action of levers and cams upon a pin that crosses through the exploder. This is efficient in placing the torpedo in position and in removing the same when the danger signal is lowered or removed. It however sometimes happens that the attendant lowers the dangersignal while a train is passing along at the place where the torpedo signal is located. Under these circumstances there is a risk of injury to the apparatus in consequence of a car-wheel running over the exploder at the time the same is raised by the levers 0 and cams s on the slide m in the aforesaid patent, the result of which is that the cam-levers are bent or broken. To overcome this difiiculty I make the explodcr with a central recess, containing an expansive spring above, and acting upon the crosspin, said spring being sufficiently strong to sustain the weight of the exploder; hence, if a wheel passes over the eX- ploder at the time it is raised, the exploder will be forced down, but the levers for raising the same will not be injured, because the aforesaid spring yields and allows the cross-pin to remain in an elevated position.

Another source of difficulty in torpedo-signals arises from the fact that the car-wheels frequently become channeled by rolling upon the rails, so that the outer portion of the wheel is similar to a flange that extends down below the level of the rail; hence the torpedoexploder, if lowered sufficiently to be out of the way of injury from old wheels of this character would be too low to be acted upon by the ordinary car or locomotive wheels. To avoid this difficulty I hang the torpedo-signal apparatus in a frame, beneath which is a stiff but adjustable spring, that will yield to the passing of an old wheel with a projecting flange, as aforesaid, so that the torpedo apparatus will not be injured, but it will be again raised to its normal position, where it can be the torpedo apparatus and the connecting devices tothe rail. Fig. 4 is a plan of the cap 'for the torpedo-holder.

The anvil b, slide m, cap 0, and levers o are the same as-in the aforesaid patent, and a reference is' hereby made to the same for a description of the construction and mode of operation.' The eXploder r and cross-pin t are for the same purpose, and operate in the same manner as set forth in said patent. I however make the eXploder r hollow or in two pieces, so as to introduce a spring, 1", above the cross-pin t. I prefer to make the cap piece r, which covers the opening containing the spring, removable, so as to he slipped into a dovetailed recess and held by a screw, and the holes through which the crosspin tpasses are made as vertical slots, so that the pin t may remain in an elevated position, as raised by the lovers 0, without interfering with the downward movement of the exploder r, should a wheel pass over the same while in this position, the spring r yielding as the exploder is depressed. It is to be understood that this spring will only come into action in cases where the torpedo-signal is being moved in one direction or the other during the passage of a train, and thatit prevents the pin t being broken or thelevers obroken or bent. At the rear end of the base a a joint-piece, a, is cast, and this is united by a pin to the frame B, and at the end of this frame, adjacent to the rail f, there is a Ushaped flange or hearing piece, L, between which the anvil portion of the torpedo.- signal is received, and there is a spring, E, upon which such anvil rests, the said spring being between the anvil and the frame B. The bolt H that passes up freely through a hole in the frame B is screwed into a hole in the under side of the anvil b, and there are nuts K upon the lower end of this bolt H. The frame B is attached to the rail f in a manner hereinafter described, and the adjustment of the nuts K is to be such that the spring E will not raise the torpcdo-signal apparatus too high, and hence the ordinary wheels of an engine or car will not press the exploder down too far, and the strength of the spring E is such that it will hold up such torpedo-signal and cause the explosion of a torpedo, should there be one beneath the exploder r at the time a train passes, but should an old defective wheel with an external flange, as aforesaid, pass over the exploder the whole of the signal apparatus will be swung upon the joint a, and the spring E will be compressed withoutinjury to any of the parts of the apparatus.

The U-shaped bcaringpiece L is to be permanently connected with the rail f, and for this purpose I prefer and use the bolts M, passing through holes in the bearing-piece L, and across beneath the rail, and also through the clip-pieces O and P, which are formed with hooks to grasp the flange of the rail f, and it is preferable to make the clip-pieces O in the form of brackets that extend down in front of the U-shaped bearing-pieces L. By making the holes in the said bearing-pieces L elongated the parts can be adjusted for different heights of rails f, and there should be washers Q beneath the heads of the bolts M, so as to securely clamp the bearing-pieces L and the clip-pieces together. Adjustable screws may be applied, as at T, through the lower portions of the clip-pieces O P, to act against the under side of the rail f.

The cover Z, which covers the magazine containing the torpedoes 43, is provided with projections Z at opposite sides, one of which passes beneath a lug, Z upon the top of the cap piece c, and the other projection passes beneath a notched flange, Z also on the top of the cap 0. The cover Zhas also aflange, Z, and these flanges Z and l" are perforated for the reception of a spring between the said frame and the anvil of the torpedo-signal, and clip-pieces and bolts for connecting the parts to the rail, substantially as set forth.

3. The frame B, having a U shaped bearing piece, L, at one end thereof, in combination with the base a of the torpedo -signal, the spring E, between the frame and the under side of the anvil, the bolt H, passing through the frame and into the anvil, and the nuts uponthe said bolt for adjusting the part, substantially as set forth.

4. The combinatiomwith the torpedo-signal and the frame to which it is hinged, of a spring between the frame and the anvil of the tor- 7o pedo-signal, the clip-pieces O P, and the bolts M, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with the magazine, the cover Z, having the projections Z and flange Z, and the lugs Z and Z upon the cap 0, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 25th day of May, A. D. 1885.

HENRY F. CLARK.

Witnesses:

R. J. CLARK, FRANK H. TREACY. 

